Stars, Guns, and Soldiers
by MHZn'EARTH
Summary: Rebel soldiers, rescue missions, desperate escapes, and a whole lot of shooting. Another mission in the records of Team Leader and his legendary battle squad!


**Stars, Guns, and Soldiers**

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Mission Briefing:

"A former military advisor and Rebel sympathizer has been captured and held captive in the capital city of Aaka Yagar. Infiltrate the capital as visiting dignitaries and acquire excess codes to the prison. Rescue the captive Rebellion member from the city prison. Exit the capital and meet up with the air transporter on the city outskirts. The transport will fly to a resistance outpost farther from the city. There, a cruiser will give you full passage to space and back to home base. _Good luck…"_

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To his squad he was Team Leader. Years ago he'd been known by another name given to him by another person.. But why should he use an old name? His team was his family and his family was his new life...

**Part 1 of 3**

Team Leader sat in his hotel room in the heart of Aaka Yagar. The city was the ancient capital of a planet run by a corrupt king and his cruel underlings. The poor got poorer, the rich got richer. A nice place to live.

It was day four of the rescue mission and everything had gone according to plan. No shooting and no deaths. That could all change. It was time for the team to break their cover and escape the city. It was the last stretch of the mission, the last day to screw up.

"Team Leader," said a female voice. "Squad Two has retrieved their targets from the prison. They're on their way to the rendezvous. Should we move out?" Team Leader scanned his eyes across the large hotel room. Three members of his squad stood around him. Dook, the muscle bound, former mercenary, was dressed like a royal guard. The guard uniform was dark blue and included a blast resistant vest with shoulder armor. Ekker, the rich kid whose family thought he was dead, was donned in wealthy palace clothes. His outfit was complete with a colorful waist-coat. Standing next to Ekker was Corporal. Corporal, like Team Leader, had once had another name from her life before the Rebellion. She stood dressed in the jewel studded gowns of an off-planet dignitary. She was waiting for Team Leader to respond to her question. "Team Leader," she repeated. "Ready?"

Team Leader nodded.

He took a final look over his soldiers.

"Let's move out."

* * *

Team Leader stepped outside the palace hotel. Like Dook, he was dressed like a royal guard. The overcast day greeted him with a gust of cold wind that tugged at his uniform. He looked out over the city. From high up on the hotel steps he could see the entire city bowing at his feet. Domed, earth colored buildings stretched in every direction. The stone buildings thinned out before giving away to the wooden dwellings that made up the capital's suburbs. Cobbled streets snaked in-between the buildings. From above, all the streets meshed into a messy carpet of strings that turned at odd angles. A vehicular chase through those streets would be a nightmare. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Two meter's to Team Leader's right, Dook stepped outside. Several seconds later the doors opened again and Corporal strode out into the sun wearing her dress. Dook and Leader both snapped to attention as she passed. Ekker, her "assistant", was following close behind her. Moving as one, Team Leader and his squad started down the stone steps. Down by the street was a large open air land-speeder. The drivers, also dressed like guards, were from one of the local terrorist groups. One of the drivers stepped out and opened the doors for the royal procession. The guard stood at attention.

Just one flight of steps and the team would be inside.

Free to leave the city.

But things just had to go bad.

The speeder exploded.

Fire mushroomed over the blast. Team Leader was slammed backwards by the shock wave. He hit the steps hard. Screams and shouts flooded the streets. Leader tasted blood filling his mouth. A rough hand grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. It was Dook. Ekker was already helping Corporal back up.

Team Leader assessed the situation. The escape car was a smoldering mess. Both guards had been incinerated. Civilians were scattering in all directions. Behind him, three local guards from the palace hotel were rushing out to see the commotion.

"Imperials!" Dook shouted.

Across the street, a dozen white clad troopers were shoving their way towards the hotel. Ekker cursed. Someone had ratted out Team Leader and his unit. The Aaka Yagar king had cried for help and the Empire had responded.

Great.

"The game is up" Team Leader said. "No more disguises. Let's get out of here." He drew his pistol and spun around. The Palace guards were raising their rifles and aiming down at Corporal's back. He fired three quick shots, taking out the trio of guards. They crumpled to the ground. More would be out to replace them. A burst of lasers streaked over Team Leader's head. Two of the Imperials had started shooting up at the squad. "Dook, take out those troopers! Ekker, cover the rear! Corporal, help me find a vehicle!" Team Leader took off down the steps at a sprint. Dook sprayed the Imperials with gun fire as he followed hot on Leader's heels. He was using stun rounds to avoid any casualties in the crowd.

Corporal pointed down street. "There! A taxi!" Team Leader followed her gaze and caught sight of the covered land speeder. Chipped, grey, paint covered its exterior. The driver was in a hurry, trying to turn the vehicle around. The Imperials were almost to the hotel.

Team Leader motioned for Corporal to follow and dashed onto the cobblestone. He reached the speeder at the same time as Corporal. She yanked open the door and Leader dove inside. The Taxi driver was a planet local with rough, scaly skin. He jerked back in surprise at the figure in royal armor. Leader pointed his gun at the driver.

"Get out!" Leader shouted. The driver panicked and tried to shove him away. Leader intercepted his arm and yanked the alien out of the driver's seat. Corporal reached inside and dragged the alien out onto the road. As soon as the driver hit the ground he pulled himself up and ran away, disappearing into the panicked crowds. Corporal turned towards the hotel.

"Let's go! Let's go!" she yelled. Dook and Ekker ran to the speeder. Corporal and Ekker took the backseat. Dook rode shotgun. He slammed his door just as Leader launched the speeder forward. As the speeder surged past the oncoming Imperials, Corporal leaned out her window and cut loose with her rapid-fire blaster. The Imperials stopped to return fire but lost their target in the winding streets. Corporal pulled back inside and closed the window.

"Did you get any?" Ekker asked. He was sort of grinning. At twenty-two years old combat still made him giddy. His green eyes were practically glowing with excitement. Corporal shrugged. Didn't answer his question.

"Help me get this dress off" she said as she laid down her blaster. "It's suffocating me."

Ekker obliged.

"What are Imperials doing here?" Dook asked. He had his eyes peeled for enemy as he talked. "I thought we were supposed to get out of here clean and unnoticed. No problems. What was that back there?"

Leader swerved around a cart, almost running over a young couple. He didn't let off the accelerator as he leveled out the speeder. "Apparently somebody was tipped off and brought things to the Empire's attention."

"You think it was one of the cell groups?" Corporal asked from the back. The jewel studded dress was almost off. She was wearing a T-Shirt and pants beneath it. Hanging around her neck was a silver star that glinted in the light. When she had first joined the rebellion, she'd explained that it was a good-luck charm that once saved her life.

Dook raised his blaster. "Hold that thought Corporal. We've got contact up ahead."

Leader: "I see it."

One hundred yards away a small checkpoint had been set up. Two soldiers where hurriedly stretching a large wooden beam across the street. Six local guards stood behind the barrier with their guns pointed over the top. The guards opened fire as the speeder drew closer.

"Hold on to something!" Leader warned.

Lasers cut through the front window. Leader gunned the engines. Houses blurred by. The stutter of Dook's gun rose above the roaring engine.

At the last second, the guards dove to safety. Leader hit the air brakes and whipped into a sharp turn. The side of the taxi plowed through the wooden barricade, sending splintered wood scattering down the cobbled road. Leader accelerated out the turn and charged down a side street. Parked carts and barrels pinged off the speeder's sides.

"You were saying?" Dook asked Corporal without looking back.

"Our leak could have come from one of the terrorist cell groups. We all know the king has his own stash of double agents embedded deep in the resistance."

"Yea, yea" Ekker said. "And…" Ekker threw a glance behind him as he talked. "…they could've…GET DOWN!"

A loud bang and the rear window exploded. Leader almost crashed into the side of the alley. He swerved back into the center of the street and looked back. A tank charged into view behind the taxi.

Damn.

Though the hovering behemoth barely fit down the narrow streets it was fast and nimble. Sitting on top of the tank was a bulky turret with two laser canons on each side. Leader recognized the vehicle from a blueprint circulating through high ranking members of the rebel alliance. The vehicle was a prototype T2-B scout tank being constructed for the Empire. Apparently the Aaka Yagar king had purchased one for his own personal use. The rich bastard.

"I've got it Team Leader!" Corporal yelled over the sound of the tank's heavy engines. Simultaneously, she and Ekker leveled their weapons out the back window. Before either one could get off a shot the tank fired two rounds from its cannons. Corporal and Ekker ducked in the backseat. Both lasers entered the taxi and blasted out the remains of the front window. Dook cursed. That was way to close. Leader gripped the controls and jerked the speeder to the left. The vehicle drove off the road just as the tank fired again. Leader swerved between two houses. The missed shots from the twin cannons left a smoldering, black scar on the cobblestone.

Team Leader smashed through a fence and sped into a wide courtyard. Several kids looked up as the battered taxi whisked by. The speeder leapt over the barrier closing off the courtyard, turned hard to the right, and roared out onto a new street. He barely avoided crashing into a large hover truck coming from the opposite direction. The tank didn't have so much luck. Dragging a small tree from the courtyard, it came charging out into the open. The truck didn't have time to swerve out the way. The two slammed into each other and crashed into a street-side house. Leader looked back. The ground shaking collision was fading into the distance. Leader refocused his attention when someone swore from the back of the speeder. Ekker was leaned forward at an odd angle.

Corporal was cursing as she sat Ekker up.

His face was contorted with pain.

Man down.

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Hope you enjoyed the story! Part two is coming pretty soon! :D


End file.
